What Time Are Pokemon Go Fest's Challenge Windows?

With Pokemon Go Fest just a few short hours away, players are gearing up and more hyped than ever to start adding their efforts to the challenges that Pokemon Go will present to players during certain timeframes. These Pokemon Go challenges players to do what they do best: Catch Pokemon, and do it quickly.

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Of course, catching these Pokemon is only the start to the challenges. There are three different challenge windows that’ll be open at various times, and it’s up to players to give it their all in each one in order to make it to the next one and unlock better rewards, the most coveted being the chance to catch a Legendary Pokemon.

Each of these challenges will only stay open for so long, so for players both at home and at the Chicago-based event, it’s important to know how, and when, you can lend a helping hand.

Challenge No. 1: Catch Challenge

This is the challenge that players will be best at with just over a year of experience catching Pokemon now in Pokemon Go and a whole swath of Generation II Pokemon to add to the options. During this challenge, players worldwide are expected to catch tons and tons of Pokemon. Depending on what type of Pokemon the players at Pokemon Go Fest collect during the challenge, perks will be unlocked for players around the world that range from reduced distances to hatch eggs to bigger Stardust bonuses, perks that can be seen in the infographic below.

For those players not attending the festival, you won’t be left out of this challenge either. The number of Pokemon caught by these players will be added to the grand total with three tiers of rewards, the bronze and silver of which will extend the above perks by 24 hours and 48 hours, respectively. If everyone can catch enough combined Pokemon to advance to the gold tier of the challenge, they’ll unlock the next challenge window that’ll start later on.

The Catch Challenge will take place from 11-11:30 a.m., 1-1:30 p.m., and 3-3:30 p.m., all times in CDT.

Challenge No. 2: Mystery Challenge

This second challenge isn’t exactly much of a mystery anymore, but that in no way diminishes the importance of this challenge window. The second challenge is going to be the battle that everyone has been anticipating since the game’s release where players in Chicago will get the chance to take on a Legendary Pokemon in a difficult raid challenge.

Unfortunately for players at home, you’ll have to rely on the aptitude of the Chicago festival attendees when it comes to this one. During that timeframe, they’ll have the chance to take on Legendary Pokemon, but it’s yet to be confirmed which ones will be featured in the raids specifically. Zapdos, Lugia, Moltres, and others are just a few of the possibilities that were teased in the trailer that was released recently, but any of them would be welcome catches. If this challenge is completed, Chicago players will unlock the Global Reward challenge for players across the globe.

The Mystery Challenge will take place from 6-7 p.m. CDT.

Challenge No. 3: Global Reward

If those players in Chicago pull through for everyone and complete their Mystery Challenge within the given window of time, they’ll unlock the same challenge for players around the world. That means if they beat the Legendary Pokemon, everyone else gets a shot at doing the same thing, taking on Legendary Raids and adding the coveted Pokemon to their collection.

While everyone is surely excited about the chance to catch a Legendary Pokemon, the time frame for this Global Reward is especially important as it’s not scheduled to take place on the same day that Pokemon Go Fest is. This final challenge will unlock the day after on July 23, assuming players are able to make it this far.

The Global Reward Challenge will take place from July 23-24.

What If The Challenges Don’t Get Completed?

Plenty of players are confident that they’ll be able to complete all of the previous challenges in order to advance to the next stages and eventually unlock Legendary Raids worldwide, but what’s the plan if the challenges don’t get completed? Even a Niantic employee said previously that it’s not going to be as easy as players think.

Each stage of the infographic that was provided was pretty clear that completing one challenge would be absolutely necessary to unlock the next one, so it’s not quite clear what’ll happen if a challenge is failed. We don’t yet know what the exact numbers are for the catch challenge and other specifics, but without a backup plan being announced by Niantic, this seems like something that’s been set up so that players are guaranteed a win. If not, you can bet that Chicago players or even Niantic might be the focus of frustration depending on which challenge is the one that’s failed.